


day eighteen: hair

by Hannah (hannahoftheinternet)



Series: HartmonFest 2019 [18]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Braids, Domestic, Established Relationship, Hair, Hair Braiding, Hartmon Fest 2019, M/M, POV Hartley Rathaway, POV Third Person, Present Tense, Training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-14 19:05:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18058271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hannahoftheinternet/pseuds/Hannah
Summary: Hartley and Cisco both have a thing about Cisco's hair.





	day eighteen: hair

“Hold up.” Cisco holds up a hand, a black elastic looped around two of his fingers. “Wait a minute.”

Hartley watches, bemused, as Cisco reaches to the back of his head, divides his hair into three sections, and braids so quickly that it’s hard to track his motions. “Okay. Ready.”

“Launching drones,” Barry says, tapping on the tablet. Cisco lowers his Vibe glasses over his eyes and assumes a fighting stance. It’s the same one Hartley uses: one foot in front of the other in an open stance, fists guarding the chest and face. Something he learned in self-defense class in high school.

The drones that Barry planted in the field launch: fourteen of them in all. Armed with lasers and rotating saws, they hover maybe twenty feet off the ground. They enter a programmed attack formation, and fly at Cisco, and Cisco  _ moves. _ One powerful burst of vibrations sends two drones up in flames. A laser fires over his head, and he doesn’t even look over his shoulder as he blows up another drone. His motions are mesmerizing, astounding, and Hartley can’t look away as his boyfriend destroys drone after drone without breaking a sweat.

When the last drone spirals to the ground, emitting smoke, Cisco throws his fists into the air and shouts, “Boom!” As he makes his return to the base, he shakes smoke and dust out of his hair, which has come loose from its braid, the hair tie evidently gone.

Hartley shows Cisco the results of the readings taken from his suit. “Your reflexes were off the charts, Cisco. That was really impressive.”

Cisco swipes hair away from his face. “I had these mini-vibes. Maybe a second or two into the future, so I could see what was going to attack me before it did.”

“Have you done that before?” Caitlin asks, ready to type on her laptop. Cisco shakes his head. “We should run tests and training exercises for everyone. The data could be invaluable in the future.”

“I second that,” Cisco says, grinning. Hartley feels a thrill himself at the prospect of gaining more data on his abilities. “That was fun.” 

“You almost got ripped apart by a drone,” Barry reminds him.

“But it was fun.”

Later, getting ready to leave for the afternoon, Hartley comments to Cisco, “I’ve never seen your hair in a full braid before.”

Cisco is packing his laptop into his bag. “I usually don’t have time. It’s just three plaits and done. Plus, my hair is finally long enough again.”

“I like it.” Hartley’s never been able to braid, and up until now, he’s never had a strong desire to learn. But he likes the way a braid looks on Cisco, and he would definitely like to be the one who made him look like that.

Cisco lights up. “Really?” he asks. “My parents say it makes me look like a girl.”

It definitely does not make him look like a girl. “It makes you look sophisticated.”

“I used to wear ponytails, but they gave me headaches,” Cisco says, dragging a hand through his currently-loose hair. The braid made it slightly wavier than normal, and now it hangs in beautiful curls. “Braids have form and function.”

“Will you teach me to braid?” Hartley blurts. Mild surprise crosses Cisco’s face, but then he nods, sets his bag on the ground, and sits in his desk chair.

“Divide my hair into three sections,” he instructs, and Hartley complies. “Cross the left section over the middle section.”

Easy enough. The former left section is now the middle part, and vice versa.

“Right over middle.”

That’s enough instruction for Hartley. He knows what to do now, and he does, slowly and uncertainly at first. On his third cross, Cisco sighs in contentment. “I love it when you touch my hair, Hart.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Hartley teases. Cisco has just enough hair for six plaits, six crosses. “Hair tie?”

Cisco roots around in his desk drawer for a few seconds as Hartley holds the braid to keep it from falling apart. “Got one,” he announces a moment later, holding up an elastic that perfectly matches the color of his hair. Hartley wraps it around the ends too short to fit into the braid. He admires his handiwork. A little messy and a little lopsided, but pretty good for his first try.

“I like it,” Cisco says, feeling the plaits.

Hartley rolls his eyes. “You can’t see it.”

“But I like it.”

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this one is a little boring; I'm coming down with a cold and can't concentrate on writing.
> 
> Comments are a writer's best friend!


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